The New York Giants produced a stunning comeback to upset the Green Bay Packers 27-22 and move to an improbable 4-1 with victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Green Bay, playing in the United Kingdom for the first time in front of a raucous crowd dominated by Packer fans, dominated the first half and led 20-10 at half-time.
Two touchdown throws from Aaron Rodgers to Allen Lazard and Marcedes Lewis along with a pair of Mason Crosby field goals seemingly had Green Bay in command.
The second of those three-pointers came after the Giants' first touchdown drive, capped by a double reverse touchdown by tight end Daniel Bellinger, which served as a harbinger of what was to come in the second half.
A field goal from Graham Gano cut the deficit to seven points and, after a Dexter Lawrence sack stopped a promising Packers drive, the Giants drove 91 yards on 15 plays with star running back Saquon Barkley back in the locker room nursing a shoulder injury, Gary Brightwell's two-yard rushing touchdown tying the game.
Barkley returned for the next drive after a quick Packers three-and-out and, having set up the Giants' first score with a 40-yard scamper, he gave New York the lead, getting them into the red zone with a 41-yard catch-and run before taking a direct snap two yards to complete the turnaround.
Green Bay responded with a drive deep into Giants' territory but, on fourth-and-one from the New York six, Rodgers saw his pass to Allen Lazard batted into the air, sealing a remarkable win to drop the Packers to 3-2, an intentional late safety taken by Brian Daboll's men proving immaterial.
Shreyas Iyer hit a magnificent century as India trounced South Africa by seven wickets in Ranchi to level the ODI series.
South Africa had won the first match by nine runs in Lucknow, after a 2-1 reverse in the preceding T20I series, but India made light work of their chase in Sunday's second tussle between the teams.
Iyer hit 15 fours in his ODI career-best 113 not out, with Ishan Kishan weighing in with 93 as the third-wicket pair put India firmly on course for victory.
A stand of 129 for the third wicket between Reeza Hendricks (74) and Aiden Markram (79) underpinned South Africa's 278-7, with Heinrich Klaasen (30) and David Miller (35no) also making handy contributions lower down the order.
Opening bowler Mohammed Siraj took 3-38 from his 10 overs, including the wickets of Hendricks and opener Quinton de Kock. The paceman bowled the final over of the innings, from which South Africa could only prise three runs, putting the hosts on a high heading into their reply.
India lost openers Shikhar Dhawan, who captained the side, and Shubman Gill before the score reached 50. However, Kishan and Iyer soon took a grip on proceedings, putting on 161 for the third wicket.
Kishan had clubbed seven sixes and went down on the attack, caught by Hendricks while attempting to pull away a delivery from Bjorn Fortuin.
Sanju Samson joined forces with Iyer, making 29 not out in the supporting role before Iyer chopped away the winning boundary, taking India to a winning score of 282-3 with 4.1 overs to spare.
Get set for Delhi decider
This three-match series will come to a head on Tuesday, before the teams head off to the T20 World Cup. India go there on a high after the batting exploits of Iyer and Kishan.
Kishan might be kicking himself at missing out on a century, with his previous highest score in ODIs having been a modest 59.
Iyer had one previous ODI century, a 103 that he scored against New Zealand in Hamilton in February 2020. In his last six ODIs, he now has one century, four 50-plus scores, and a 44.
Super Siraj
'Death' bowling can be a thankless task, but Siraj showed himself to be a classy finisher as the Proteas were left frustrated. His innings haul gave him his best bowling figures in ODIs, beaten only by his 3-29 against West Indies at Ahmedabad in February of this year.
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has described Charles Leclerc's five-second penalty at the Japanese Grand Prix – which handed Max Verstappen his second Formula One world title – as "ridiculous and unacceptable".
Verstappen sealed consecutive championships by winning a rain-shortened race at Suzuka on Sunday – though it initially appeared he would have to wait after Leclerc crossed the line in second.
However, Leclerc's late move to stay ahead of Sergio Perez landed him a five-second penalty, putting the Ferrari man third and unable to catch Verstappen in the drivers' standings.
Speaking to Sky Sports following the bizarre conclusion, a furious Binotto contrasted Sunday's immediate decision to penalise Leclerc with the long delay required to hand Perez a similar sanction in Singapore last week.
"The decision of the five-second penalty to Leclerc is ridiculous and unacceptable, it is something that does not make sense," he said.
"Leclerc did not gain position or time, when we saw the note, we were calm. This time it was decided without even listening to the drivers, unlike Singapore.
"Incredible decision, which is not clear: two identical infractions and two different penalties seven days apart."
Race organisers have also come under fire after Pierre Gasly narrowly avoided a high-speed collision with a tractor, which was recovering Carlos Sainz's crashed Ferrari after a series of early collisions.
Binotto also made reference to that incident as he warned poor management of the sport could harm its reputation.
"Then the start in those conditions, the crane on the track… this shows that the moment is difficult [for F1]," Binotto continued. "The risk is to lose the credibility of the sport.
"We have to understand how to improve the situation, because this management is not going well."
Former Spain and Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas claims he was hacked after a tweet from his Twitter account said he had come out as gay.
A post attributed to the 41-year-old on Sunday said: "I hope you respect me: I'm gay."
The tweet had a seismic impact on social media but suspicions over the validity of the message quickly emerged when an account in the name of his former Spain team-mate Carles Puyol replied 10 minutes later saying it was time for them "to tell our story", followed by kissing and love-heart emojis.
Both tweets rapidly went viral, before Spanish publication Diario AS claimed it was a response to show how Casillas was "fed up with the rumours" about a potential relationship with actress Alejandra Onieva.
Each message was eventually deleted, with Casillas then posting another tweet absolving himself of responsibility almost three hours after the initial message was sent.
"Hacked account. Luckily everything in order," wrote Casillas, who in 2020 ran for the presidency of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
"Apologies to all my followers. And of course, more apologies to the LGBT community."
By that point, both players had already been widely criticised for what many felt to be an ill-judged joke.
That was certainly the perception of Josh Cavallo, the Adelaide United player generally regarded to be the first openly gay professional male footballer, who suggested the former Clasico stars had been disrespectful about a serious topic prior to Casillas' brief explanation.
"Joking and making fun out of coming out in football is disappointing," he wrote.
"It's a difficult journey that any LGBTQ+ people have to go through. To see my role models and legends of the game make fun out of coming out and my community is beyond disrespectful."
Casillas' apology was not immediately followed by a similar message from Puyol.
Barcelona director of football Mateu Alemany has revealed he put up part of his own money to ensure the registration of Jules Kounde, after key players refused salary reductions.
The France defender arrived at Camp Nou ahead of the current campaign, but was unable to figure early on for the Blaugrana despite the activation of multiple financial levers.
Kounde was ultimately registered just before the transfer window shut, allowing him to make his competitive debut for Xavi's side, but the delay raised questions over why the club took so long.
Alemany revealed he and the rest of the club's board of directors were forced to stump up additional cash to ensure he could figure, hitting out at LaLiga's financial regulations.
"With €867million [worth] of levers, LaLiga told us that it was still not enough to register Kounde," he told the club's general assembly. "So, we had to guarantee."
The director further revealed the decision of key players - among them Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba - to refuse a slashed salary was what led to the board being forced to make the move.
"We found overpriced salaries compared to the market price," he added. "They blocked our ability to make transfers.
"These players are impossible to transfer, and otherwise enforce a tax on our fairplay restrictions. They are wage packets outside the market, and our goal is to make them disappear."
Bayern Munich left-back Alphonso Davies has been diagnosed with a "bruised skull" following an incident in Saturday's Der Klassiker against Borussia Dortmund.
Davies was caught in the head by Jude Bellingham's foot after the pair challenged for a loose ball during the 2-2 draw at Signal Iduna Park.
The Canada international received treatment for the injury in the first half before being substituted at half-time.
Bayern confirmed on Sunday that the 21-year-old suffered a "bruised skull", though did not give any timescale for his return to action.
Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann was not happy with the challenge and believed Bellingham, who had already been booked, should have received a red card.
Speaking after the game, Nagelsmann said: "He hits him in the face. The rules are clear. There is a suspicion of a concussion. That's not surprising given the kick in the face.
"Four months ago, we had a training course. They told us that a kick in the face is a red."
Elise Mertens claimed her first WTA title of the year after defeating Alize Cornet in straight sets to capture the Jasmin Open crown on Sunday.
The world number 42 reeled off the last 11 games as she soared to a dominant 6-2 6-0 victory after just 80 minutes in Monastir.
Mertens landed the seventh WTA title of her career - and first since the 2021 Gippsland Trophy - following a timely return to form off the back of a disappointing 2022 that had seen her reach just two quarter-finals.
The Belgian overcame Cornet in three sets when they met in St. Petersburg earlier this year, and she quickly gained the upper hand in the fifth contest between the pair.
Mertens rescued two break points to hold for 2-2, before breaking twice as she eventually cruised to the opening set.
A late wildcard in Tunisia, Cornet had progressed to her first final since Chicago last year without dropping a set, and was targeting her first silverware since triumphing in Gstaad four years ago.
But the world number 37 could not establish any momentum in her quest to get back into the final; nine double-faults certainly hindering her intentions.
Mertens fully capitalised. The fifth seed won 83 per cent of her first-service points, while breaking a further three times as she breezed to a commanding victory.
J.T. Realmuto insisted that "nobody's excited" to play the Philadelphia Phillies after they secured their National League Division Series place with victory over the St Louis Cardinals.
The Phillies advanced to their first NLDS showdown in 11 years, where they will face the Atalanta Braves after defeating the Cardinals 2-0 in the National League Wildcard Series.
Bryce Harper's homer off the first pitch of the second inning set the tone at Busch Stadium, where Aaron Nola's pitching kept the likes of Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado at bay as they prevailed with a game to spare.
"I can promise you, nobody's excited to play the Phillies right now," Realmuto said. "Not one person on this team is surprised. We all expected to be here. This is where we wanted to be to start the season, and we're not done yet.
"We felt like it was our night to begin with and as soon as Bryce [Harper] hit that home run, we felt like we were going to win the game.
"There's a lot of confidence in that dugout right now and with the way Aaron has been throwing the ball, we were confident he and the bullpen were going to hold it down."
Rhys Hoskins also heaped praise on Harper following his "MVP-type" display, revealing he was a man on a mission upon arriving in the locker room.
"The first thing Bryce told me today is we are not losing this game," Hoskins added. "Then he goes out and hits a home run in his first at-bat. That's MVP-type stuff right there. It was awesome."
Defeat for the Cardinals abruptly brought the curtain down on the glittering careers of Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina, who boast 21 All Star appearances between them.
Manager Oliver Marmol was disappointed not to give the decorated duo a more fitting send-off, saying: "Everybody in that clubhouse is feeling it right now. It's a tough one.
"When you know it's Yadi's last year and Albert's last year, there's this extra motivation to deliver for them and do something special and allow that story to end with a championship, so it's obviously disappointing. But it's where we're at."
Max Verstappen struck a philosophical tone as he celebrated a second Formula One drivers' title, admitting this could be as good as it gets for him.
The 25-year-old Dutchman has been dominant in the 2022 season, with his 12th race win in 18 races coming at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday.
It came in curious fashion, with Verstappen initially moving only to the brink of the title with victory. His triumph was confirmed later, when a penalty was imposed on second-placed finisher Charles Leclerc, nudging the Ferrari driver down to third place in the race and giving Verstappen an unassailable championship lead.
He has wrapped up the title with four races to spare, and Verstappen might go on to be the leading light in many more seasons to come. Indeed, it would be a surprise if he does not; but great drivers from years gone by have not necessarily stacked up the titles expected of them.
Fernando Alonso, for one, captured titles in 2005 and 2006 but has not added to those back-to-back successes.
Verstappen is conscious that the car must be right, so he is determined to make the most of Red Bull equipping him with a formidable set of wheels, for as long as that lasts.
"I've got four race weekends at least to celebrate," he said. "There is no real pressure any more, but I still want to of course try and win more races, because with the car we have now you have to try and take advantage of that.
"You don't know if you're ever going to have that again, next year, in the years to come. So, we'll definitely try to win a few more."
Verstappen already accepts that following up the 2022 performance will be a lot to ask of Red Bull and their driver team.
Because of Leclerc's five-second penalty, Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Perez took second place at Suzuka, and also sits second in the championship, some 113 points behind the champion.
Red Bull are emphatically the team to beat, but many teams have been in such a position across the history of Formula One, and what history tells us is that a rival will at some stage overhaul them.
Next season will be a 24-race slog, two races longer than this campaign, and that will test all the teams.
"Yeah, it's going to be a long season," Verstappen said. "I thought this one was already pretty long – but we'll see. We're going to try and prepare for next year as good as we can.
"Then we'll try to get it as close as we can to this year, because replicating something like this will be very tough – but I have a lot of good hope within the people in the team that we can create again a really good car."
Taylor Fritz became the first American to win the Japan Open since Pete Sampras in 1996 after seeing off compatriot Frances Tiafoe with a victory that will take him into the top 10.
The 24-year-old beat Tiafoe in straight sets, though it was a tight affair as the match was decided via two tie-breaks, Fritz eventually triumphing 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2) to clinch the ATP 500 event.
Nevertheless, Fritz looked the composed player for much of the contest as he created eight break chances to Tiafoe's three – though the latter managed to hang in for the most part.
The only breaks of serve came in back-to-back games early in the first set, with Tiafoe quickly hitting back before later holding off two set points to force a tie-break.
He would have been confident going into it after winning 13 successive singles tie-breaks prior to Sunday, but Fritz blew Tiafoe away in both, with the second coming at the end of a set in which neither player gave an inch.
A third tournament victory of 2022 ensures Fritz will break into the top 10 on Monday and provides a real boost to his hopes of qualifying for the end-of-season ATP Finals.
"Crazy, I don't even think it's set in just how fast the last four or five days have been," Fritz said afterwards.
"It's so crazy, and I couldn't have written it any better. It's exactly what I needed for the race [to Turin for the ATP Finals], for my ranking, to kind of put me in a good position for the end of the year, so it's amazing."
Fritz will be eighth in the world when the new rankings are released, making him the first American man to break the top 10 since Jack Sock did so in 2017.
Novak Djokovic claimed the 90th ATP Tour title of his illustrious career after landing the Astana Open crown with a straight-sets victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Serbian also secured a place at next month's ATP Finals in Turin after prevailing 6-3 6-4 in just 75 minutes.
It was Djokovic's fourth piece of silverware of the season – adding to his triumphs in Wimbledon, Rome and Tel Aviv – and stretched his winning streak to nine matches.
The 21-time major winner had prevailed in each of his last six encounters with Tsitsipas and claimed a crucial break in game eight of the opening set, before serving it out to draw first blood.
Seeking his maiden ATP 500 title at the ninth attempt, Tsitsipas was aiming to join Djokovic in becoming only the second male player to win a tour-level title on all three surfaces this season.
However, the Greek ace hit 25 unforced errors throughout the contest to his opponent's seven and was broken again in game five of the second set.
Djokovic, who won 33 of his 38 first-serve points and did not face a single break point, subsequently sealed victory with a brilliant backhand winner to make it back-to-back titles following last week's triumph in Tel Aviv.
"I always hoped that I would be going to have a great career. Obviously, [I] didn't know the amount of finals I was going to play, the amount of tournaments I was going to win, but my intention was always to reach the highest heights in our sport.
"I'm just very grateful and blessed to be able to play this well at this stage of my life. I think the experience, probably, in these kinds of matches and big occasions helps as well to approach mentally in the right way.
"I could not ask for a better restart of the season. I'm super-pumped and motivated to end the season as well as I have done these past couple of weeks."
England's T20 World Cup preparations are on track after an entertaining win by eight runs in the first match of their T20I series against Australia on Sunday.
Openers Jos Buttler (68) and Alex Hales (84) were central to England setting a commanding target of 209 in Perth, with their stand of 132 almost double that of any other partnership for either team.
No one else managed more than 13 for England, but Chris Woakes (13 not out from five) provided a late injection to help them pass 200 and set Australia a significant target.
Australia's response was valiant. David Warner (73) looked sharp, aided by Mitchell Marsh (36) and Marcus Stoinis. During the latter's 35 off just 15 balls, Australia looked to have turned the tide.
Mark Wood (3-34) was key to disrupting Australia's momentum as he claimed the scalps of Stoinis and Warner, though the hosts still went into the final over knowing 16 runs would seal victory.
Matthew Wade's (21) four at the start of the last over stoked hope, but Sam Curran ensured there was no dramatic late turnaround with two wickets in the space of three balls.
Hales a double threat
While Curran played an important part at the end and Buttler gave England's innings some real potency, Hales starred both with the bat and in the field.
Hales' match-high score came from 51 balls as he found a fine balance between power and composure to hang around until the 16th over, while he also made two catches.
Curran repays the faith
Having the ball for the final over was not only a show of faith, but also a real test for Curran – Australia's target of 16 at that point was hardly inconceivable.
But he held his nerve, eventually claiming two wickets and seeing England over the line in an exciting finish to the first of three clashes between the sides.
Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra claimed the LIV Golf Bangkok title after carding a final-round 69 to win by three strokes on a weather-affected final day.
The 22-year-old took a five-shot lead into the final round and did enough to hold off late charges from the likes of Patrick Reed and Paul Casey, the latter of whom will be left to rue an opening round of 71 after shooting 65 on both the second and third days.
Nobody bettered Lopez-Chacarra's first and second rounds of 65 and 63 respectively, and he overcame two bogies on the front nine to finish three under on the final day and seal victory, maintaining his focus despite play being suspended for an hour and a half because of a storm in the area.
The Spaniard was a high-ranked amateur before joining the controversial Saudi-backed tour in June and now earns his first professional championship, as well as a $4million purse.
Richard Bland and Branden Grace formed part of a leading trio with Lopez-Chacarra on seven under after the opening round, but Grace withdrew with injury on Saturday while Bland could not follow up his first-day success, losing pace on the eventual winner to finish joint-third – alongside Casey and Sihwan Kim and a stroke behind second-placed Reed.
Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka was joint-eighth at 13 under, while Bryson DeChambeau ended 14th at 10 under.
Other big names were way off the pace, with Phil Mickelson 10 shots behind Lopez-Chacarra and 2022 Open Championship winner Cameron Smith finishing a disappointing tournament tied for 41st at four under.
Sergio Perez considered an incident when a tractor appeared on the track ahead of Pierre Gasly at the Japanese Grand Prix "the lowest point" in Formula One "for years".
Dreadful conditions in Suzuka saw a series of crashes on the first lap on Sunday, with the safety car almost immediately introduced.
The race was then red-flagged on lap three, but Gasly passed a tractor – seemingly recovering Carlos Sainz's crashed Ferrari – as he was still driving around the track, with the incident appearing to occur just seconds after drivers had been notified of the red flag.
As the cars returned to the pit lane and waited for the rain to ease, a number of drivers took to social media to angrily point out how dangerous that moment was.
Jules Bianchi was the last F1 driver to suffer a fatal crash, which happened in Japan in 2014 when he hit a recovery vehicle.
"That's the lowest point we've seen in the sport for years," Red Bull's Perez said. "What happened today just makes me so angry.
"I just hope ever in the sport we never get to see this situation ever again. It's putting all the drivers at risk.
"We saw what happened here a few years ago with our friend Jules, and absolutely I don't care about what was the reason for that. It should never happen again, ever in any category."
Gasly was later handed a 20-second penalty by the FIA for speeding under red flag conditions, but he described his fear as he encountered the tractor.
"We lost Jules already," Gasly said. "We all lost an amazing guy, an amazing driver for the reasons that we know – eight years ago, on the same track, in the same conditions, with a crane.
"How? How today can we see a crane not even on the gravel, on the race track while we are still on the track? I don't understand that.
"Obviously, I got scared; obviously, if I would have lost the car in a similar way that Carlos lost it in the lap before, it doesn't matter the speed – 200, 100 – I would have just died. It's as simple as that.
"I don't understand. It's disrespectful to Jules, disrespectful to his family."
The AlphaTauri man added: "I'm just extremely grateful that I'm here. Tonight, I'm going to call my family and all my loved ones.
"The outcome is the way that it is because I passed two metres from that crane. If I would have been two metres to the left, I would have been dead."
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